Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you’ll land among the stars.

This is one of many Les Brown quotes, and I must say I remember vividly when I first saw Les Brown at a Rotary International conference. Born and reared in poverty and adopted at a young age by a loving aunt, Les Brown is one of those amazing survivors. And not only did he survive, but he thrives. His talk was so moving that I tried to secure him as a keynote soon after that and found that he brings home multiples of thousands of dollars for his appearances. Good for Les. If you have never seen Les, watch some of Les Brown here:

Setting goals is one inherent part of reaching goals, and planning on how to reach goals is the second part. Realistic goals. Measurable goals. Steps it takes to get to those goals. Simple ideas. So why are we not all rich and famous if it is so easy?

Two more Les Brown quotes might help here:

“Get your ideas on paper and study them. Do not let them go to waste!”
“You must take action now that will move you towards your goals. Develop a sense of urgency in your life.”
Several years ago I took a Priority Management course. In fact, I took it twice as the concept so intrigued me. Given the gift of a short attention span, I was fascinated by the ability to prioritize based on severity of outcomes. You see, it seems that there are always urgent but relatively unimportant tasks to complete. Those long term strategic tasks always (or many times) fall to the important but not urgent quadrant. So we get the mail opened, answer the p hone and email, and let the planning wait.

That was when I started making time to plan, and making goal setting a regular event. After all, how do you know you have gotten anywhere if you have no destination? And that is where Les Brown comes back into the equation. Once you are on an upward trajectory, then shooting for the moon is reasonable and attainable. And, if you miss the moon, setting your goals high will certainly get you closer, among the stars, than staying close to home with low goals.

What does all this have to do with marketing? Goal setting for businesses, and goal setting for home health businesses specifically, is the first step. Expansion, more billable hours, different staff, extra services or telemonitoring equipment to offer…all of these are parts of strategic plans for growth. Anyone can grow and reach goals if a plan is made, measurements are taken and noted, and the tactics to reach those goals are put into place. More quotes to follow this week, as I am giving Thanks to all those who have impacted my life in positive ways.